>> Successful Commissioning of Roll Shop for Tianjin Tiantie

On the 9th of September 2008 Herkules got the final acceptance for its complete Roll Shop installation in Tianjin, P.R. China. The Roll Shop is run fully automatic by the Roll Shop Management System (RSMS) including fully automatic loading and unloading by 2 Roll Loaders. In total 4 Roll Grinders and 1 Texturing Machine are controlled and monitored out of the central pulpit. More than 33.000 rolls will be ground per year to feed the SMS Demag pickling line and five-stand, six-high cold rolling mill with a yearly capacity of 1.6 million tons. With CVC of SMS it was necessary for Tianjin to order roll grinders of the highest standard to cope with the special roll curve necessary for this high demanding technology.

>> High-Performance-Machines for Master Steel Group

Based on our contacts established during the late 1980s, Herkules is proud to announce that we will supply two combination groove grinding/notch milling machines for machining TC rings and composite rolls for this ambitious, privately owned steel making and rolling group in Indonesia. The machines will be installed in the plants in Jakarta and Surabaya.

>> Successful Installation of Notch Milling Machine NNF at INCA

Within record time of less than four months from purchase order until acceptance test, INCA (which has an alliance with the Brazilian Gerdau Group) and Herkules successfully installed a Herkules new generation notch milling machine, type NNF CNC x 2000. This machine allows fully automatic notch and logotype milling of TC rings and rolls required for rebar production. A further feature is the automatic measuring mode for workpiece preparation and quality control. The machine supports the roll shop of a state-of-the-art rolling mill, which will be expanded in 2009. After supplying a Herkules heavy duty roll turning lathe, type P 200/300 CNC F in 2007, this is already the second Herkules machine installed at INCA.

>> Six Monolith™ Grinders for the Chinese Aluminum Industry in 2008

Since the beginning of this year Herkules managed to get orders from five Chinese  customers, for in total six Monolith™ Roll Grinders. The companies named North China Aluminum, North West Aluminum, Qing Hai Ping An Aluminium, Yunnan Aluminium and Chinalco Henan Aluminum decided for the latest technology for high precision grinding of rolls for the aluminium sector. Previously the success of the Monolith™ technology started a bit slower in Asia than in the western world as the cost saving for the foundation is fractional. After detailed investigation of the existing references our Chinese customers realized that the main advantage of the Monolith™ technology is not the cost saving for the foundation, but the higher performance which result in the best possible grinding accuracy. Herkules is proud to underline its leading position in this high demanding market.

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>> Largest Project in Company History

For their expansion project, Forge Saar Voelklingen, a company of the Saarstahl group, placed an order with the HerkulesGroup for large turning lathes, amounting to more than 50 million Euros. The higher-than-average demand for large forge parts for the energy industry has caused Forge Saar to considerably extend their existing production capacities at the Voelklingen site. This largest ever individual project of the HerkulesGroup will be realized at the Herkules sites in Siegen and Meuselwitz and Waldrich Siegen in Burbach over a time period of three years. The order comprises large turning lathes for work piece weights of 100 to 250 tons and turning diameters of 2000 to 3300 mm, with center distances of up to 28000 mm. "Besides our excellent reputation at Forge Saar, their decision for awarding HerkulesGroup was based on the advantage that the HerkulesGroup could provide the necessary production capacities within one group - a clear advantage of location compared to international competitors." says Christoph Thoma, Chairman & CEO HerkulesGroup.

>> China National Erzhong placed next order

China National Erzhong Group I/E Co., Ltd. placed the second order of one heavy duty roll grinder, type UWS 1100 x 12000 CNC for roll manufacturing. China National Erzhong Group Co. (former the Second Heavy Machinery Plant) is situated in DeYang, a heavy industrial city on the west plain of Sichuan province. It is the largest heavy machine-building base and the machinery localization base for technical equipments in China. This order is already Herkules second project challenge for grinding heavy rolls of 150 metric tons between centers. The machine is particular designed to support manufacturing of rolls up to 2250 mm in diameter, with a total roll length up to 12000 mm on centers at micron precision. With this fifth order of a heavy duty roll grinder for a roll maker located in China during the last three years, Herkules further strengthens its position as a leading technology supplier to support manufacturing of rolls.